1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a float valve assembly used in a liquid drain trap forming part of a high pressure liquid and gas separating apparatus and more particularly to a vertically aligned float valve assembly wherein the upper and lower orifices to the drain trap provide vertical alignment for a valve of the assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore most float valve assemblies utilized in a liquid drain trap forming part of a high pressure liquid and gas separating apparatus have been cantilevered so that the upper valve seat will travel through an arc from a valve open to a valve closed position and this did not provide a good seating of the upper seat on the lower seat of the valve.
It has been proposed, however, in other environments, to provide a generally aligned floatation valve assembly in a liquid dispensing or liquid/gas separating apparatus. Examples of such assemblies are disclosed in the following U.S. Patents.
______________________________________ U.S. PAT. NO. PATENTEE ______________________________________ 496,994 Brogan 1,778,437 Valjean 2,087,913 Kenney et al. 2,809,712 Muller 2,827,915 Mitchell 3,522,013 Borgeson ______________________________________
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,827,915 there is disclosed a float valve especially adapted for use in a regenerant tank of a water treatment apparatus. In such apparatus, a float in a water tank has an upper stem which is slidably journalled in an opening in a bracket. The stem is slidably received through the float and has stops on the portion extending above the float and the portion extending below the float. On the upper end of the stem is a slide member which is received within a tubular fitting mounted in an outlet for a water conduit. The lower side of the fitting has a valve seat and the lower end of the slide member has a washer type, valve-forming member mounted thereon which is adapted to seat against the valve seat to close the valve when the water level in the tank reaches a predetermined height.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,778,437 movement of a float results in movement of a mechanism which raises and lowers a valve stem which extends through the float and which is centered between an upper bore and a lower valve seat for dispensing fluid to a gas burner.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,087,913 a vertically movable pin is operatively associated with a float. The float is movable on a tubular support member having a valve stem slidably received therein and coupled to the float so that when the float goes up or down the valve stem goes up and down to seat or unseat the lower end of the valve stem on the valve seat. This float valve is utilized in a container for a refrigerating medium.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,809,712 discloses a float which is connected to a stem which is received through an upper locating bore and which has connected to the bottom thereof a cylindrical valve member which is received in a mating cylindrical cavity. Movement of the float up and down causes movement of the cylindrical valve member within the cylindrical cavity to open and close the valve in a gas and liquid separator associated with a gasoline storage tank.
Still another device which uses an aligned valve stem with a float that moves relative to the valve stem for moving the valve stem up and down and which has a floating valve at the bottom thereof is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,522,013.
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, the float valve assembly of the present invention differs from the previously proposed cantilevered float valves used in high pressure liquid drain traps and differs from the vertically aligned float valves described above and utilized in other environments, by providing a float valve assembly in a liquid drain trap which has generally vertically aligned upper and lower orifices, the assembly including a float valve having upper and lower coaxial stem-forming members which are received in the respective upper and lower orifices which serve not only as fluid inlet and outlet means but also as valve aligning means for a valve assembly including the lower end of the lower stem-forming member and a valve element in the lower orifice.